A Simple Cheese

This one is really easy to make and you can add your own touch, your own favorite flavors and herbs  to the mix.
I heat one gallon of milk to 175F degrees..

Stir in one cup of white vinegar...

Strain through cheesecloth..

I added salt to taste and about 2 tablespoons of butter...

I didn't use a cheese press. I just pressed it into a bowl, covered it and chilled overnight in the fridge...

Topped with a sweet, hot chile sauce...

I like this cheese, it's so easy to make and the variations are endless. You can add just about any of your favorite herbs or seasonings. Jalapenos, pickled peppers, scallions, garlic, etc..

It's not a good melting cheese but it's a great crumbling cheese.


Everything is going well here. The virus hasn't really been a factor in my life. The stores I frequent are still open and operating as usual. I live in the middle of nowhere so friends are still living live normally. The cattle still need tended, the pigs, chickens, etc., are thriving and the garden is doing great.

Hope everyone is healthy and happy and doing well!
Thanks for stopping by!

Hickory Smoked Beef Manicotti

This was an easy meal that turned out tastier than I had anticipated. It would be easy enough to toss into a 350F oven til hot and bubbly, but I wanted to cook it in the drum and let it catch a bit of smoke.

I made a batch of my favorite meatloaf recipe. Any meatloaf recipe will work.

I stuffed the mixture into uncooked manicotti pasta...

I spread a bit of store bought marinara sauce in the bottom of the skillet before lining up the stuffed pasta...

I filled the skillet about 1/2 way up the side, with some beef stock. I do this a lot when cooking with a dutch oven. It helps the pasta get tender...

I had leftover meatloaf mixture, so I just spread it around on top!

Topped with more sauce, then into the drum with a bit of hickory. The drum ran around 300F.

When the manicotti was heated through, I topped it with cheese...

Smoked til the cheese was melted and everything was hot and bubbly...

That's pretty much it. Supper was ready!

Served with some garlic bread and a salad.. no picture of the salad for some reason. lol

I sliced the manicotti in half to get a shot of the meat stuffing...

I really liked the way this turned out. The smoke from the drum added an extra layer of flavor.
It was really easy to make too!!


Hope everyone is doing well and keeping safe and warm!
The weather has been interesting here. 80 degrees one day and snowing the next!
It would be nice to have more moisture here, but I'm not complaining. The critters are doing great....It's been a nice winter!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chinese Scallion Pancakes

I've been making these for years and usually call them Chinese pizzas. I think they are referred to as pancakes in most restaurants though. lol What ever they are called, I love em and they are so easy to make!

Start with 2 cups of all purpose flour....

Add one cup of boiling water...

knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. Cover with a damp towel and let the dough rest for 35 minutes.. 

Divide the dough into 4 pieces..

I used some of my canned bacon for this....I'm using the heck out of this stuff. I need to slow down on eating bacon! lol

I just zapped these in the microwave on a paper plate, then crumbled them for the pancakes. 

I roll the dough out, slather with bacon drippings, sprinkle with salt, top with crumbled bacon and scallions.
The original recipe said to use anchovies if you like, but omit the salt if you do.

Roll the dough up and pinch the ends closed ...

Roll the stuffed dough into a "snail". Not sure what else to call it. lol

Roll or flatten the pancake out to about 5 or 6 inches in diameter.

Fry til light brown and crisp...

I cut them into 1/4's..... I like to dip them in a spicy sweet and sour, chile sauce, but they are good on their own!

One thing I don't like about the recipe.... it only makes 4 pancakes!  I could go through these in one day! lol
I do like to make extra, bag and freeze them. Then thaw first, and pop them into the toaster to crisp them up. They are nice to have on hand!

New baby calves are being born on a daily basis. The mommas are fat and happy and taking good care of the little ones. I have garden fever but know better than to start my veggie plants this early. lol

Hope everybody is doing well, thanks for stopping by!

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp.... With Home Canned Bacon

I've been using the bacon that I recently canned. So far, I like it.

The canned bacon is not crisp, but either cooking it in a frying pan or zapping it in the microwave for one minute does the trick. It crisps right up!

I butterflied a few shrimp, stuffed them with a slice of pepperjack cheese, wrapped in about 1/2 of a slice of bacon and tossed them into the oven til crisp and the cheese was bubbly.

I liked the way they turned out. The pepperjack added just a bit of a kick and the bacon was nice and crisp! It was a fairly quick snack to make. 

I'm pretty sure that anything wrapped in bacon is going to be tasty though. lol

The weather has been pretty warm here. There's been a few days of single digit temperatures and some snow flurries, but no major moisture. The critters are doing great! One momma hen was determined to hatch an egg, so I let her go ahead, The little one is thriving and seems to have adjusted to life in the coop fairly well. 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and safe New Year's eve! 

Thanks for stopping by!